monday, march 15: i went to my routine doctor's appointment. at that appointment, i found out that julianna was small- in the 7th percentile for her age. i had an ultrasound and non-stress test that day.
tuesday, march 16: went back for a follow-up appointment. i had another non-stress test and another ultrasound. this ultrasound was to see if julianna was practicing her breathing. the ultrasound tech couldn't see her practicing but she told us that sometimes we just catch them when they aren't practicing. then josh and i met with my primary doctor, dr. fogleman. she was going to be making the decision as to what we were going to do next. she was very concerned with julianna's size. she worried that if we didn't induce, whatever was causing a delay in her growth would just get worse. she called the hospital and scheduled for me to be admitted at 7pm that night. i was full of emotions at that point. excited and nervous!
after we left the doctor, i tied up some loose ends at school, let my students know the news, then josh and i headed to h&r block to amend our taxes. we our paying to get the first time home buyers tax credit! we also had our last dinner out as "non-parents"... we went to san felipe. we were both filled with anticipation of what the next 24 hours would bring!
around 7pm, josh and i arrived at the women's hospital in greensboro. we checked in and then were taken to a labor/delivery room. i got to lose my clothes and get dressed in a lovely hospital gown. around 8pm, i had my IV inserted. i've never had one before so this was a less than pleasant experience! around 9pm, the nurse inserted the cervidil to help with softening my cervix. she left it in all night and this was one of the most uncomfortable parts of the entire experience! i didn't sleep at all that night. partially due to the anxiousness but mostly due to the pain i was in. i felt like i was having the worlds worst period! my legs hurt. my back hurt. i couldn't get comfortable and i think i slept for a total of 15 minutes all night. i was even talking to josh while he slept like a baby!
finally i got some relief. the cervidil was removed at 6am and i got to take a shower. i had an itty bitty breakfast that consisted a bowl of cereal that had about 3 bites in it. at 7am, i was hooked up the pitocin to get my labor going. i was having some contractions after that but they weren't too painful.
as i was thinking that this wasn't going to be too bad... enter dr. taavon. he decided to "jump start" things by breaking my water. that part of awkward and uncomfortable but the feeling of peeing all over myself, non-stop was strange! when he broke my water, i was about 2cm dilated. and here comes those horrible contractions that i'd always heard about...
i was in agonizing pain after he broke my water. i was having very painful contractions that seemed to be about 3 minutes apart. after an hour and a half of this, i had enough! i told my nurse that i wanted to go ahead and have the epidural. i didn't want to be in that much pain on such a wonderful day!
around 12pm, i got the epidural! i didn't experience any pain while the epidural was inserted. i felt relief from my contractions within about 5 minutes and i was numb/tingly within 10 minutes. it was amazing!
so after i got the epidural, all i wanted to do was each green jello and cherry popcicles because i was soooooo hungry! i could only have liquids and that little bowl of cereal was long gone. the rest of my labor wasn't painful at all. it was really weird not being able to move my legs on my own but i didn't mind having help. during this time, josh took great care of me! he kept me comfortable and kept me relaxed.
around 2pm, dr. cousins came in to check my progress. i was still between 2 and 3 cm dilated at this point. she felt my belly and julianna was laying transverse and that needed to be fixed so that i could deliver vaginally. she had me lay on the stomach, turned to the side. it was actually a really comfortable position and i took a little nap during this time. i woke up off and on and the last time i woke up, i felt a lot of pressure... like i needed to go to the bathroom. i let the nurse know how i was feeling and she decided to check my progress.
between 2 and 4:30, i finished dilating! i went from 3cm to 10cm within 2.5 hours! i couldn't believe how fast it happened! i started pushing around 4:30 and at 5:14, julianna was born!
the scary thing that happened during the delivery (that i'm glad i wasn't aware of at the time) was that her cord was wrapped around her neck twice! praise the Lord the nurse midwife (tanya bailey) knew what she doing!
the nurse handed her to me right away and i couldn't believe how beautiful she was! it was love at first sight! josh and i were both so emotional... the tears in his eyes made me cry.
i didn't have any tearing. i was so blessed! julianna weighed 5.8 pounds and was 18.5 inches long. right after delivery, my mom, dad, josh's mom, and stepdad visited with us and held our precious little girl. dustin and shandi also were there to welcome our new arrival.
we stayed in the hospital from tuesday evening until friday morning when we were discharged. during our stay, we got a lot of practice with taking care of her. i love that they let her stay in the room with us 24 hours a day.
we are now home and happy! we are so blessed to have our new addition... our little lucky charm, Miss Julianna Hope Soto!
Josh's dad posted the picture above on facebook. It's Josh's dad with him and his twin brother after they were born almost 26 years ago. I think it's one of the most precious pictures I've ever seen of the three of them together. The picture below is the three of them in January 2009.
